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I have a set of 5 'working day' disk media set backups, Mon, Tues, etc.. Each media set has a single member i.e. one physical disk per day backup. The media being backed up is a single Thunderbolt volume.
All 5 media sets are uncompressed and unencrypted. As they are off-site portable backups I would like to convert them to compressed and encrypted. My understanding is this can't be applied directly retrospectively.
My plan is to:
Clone each disk to a similar sized new disk using Carbon Copy Cloner
Erase the original member disk and create a new media set on it with a slightly different name and compression and encryption enabled.
Use a "Copy Media Set" script to copy the cloned set back to the original member disk applying compression and encryption.
I plan to use the two step "clone and copy back" rather than just a single step copy script because I want to keep the oldest disk as the first member of the set.
My questions are:
Is it OK to drag-copy or clone Retrospect data files between disks or do all copy operations have to be done using the Retrospect engine as part of a managed database/filesystem?
When a "Copy Media Set" script is used is the ability to restore from a snapshot point in time preserved? Is any functionality of the media set lost?
Will software compression and encryption be applied using this method.
Thank you in advance for any assistance with this, as you can probably tell I am a relatively inexperienced user.
Regards,
Andrew
Retrospect 15.0.0
LaCie Rugged Raid 4&5TB Thunderbolt connected disks

I want to be able to do a backup Script of changed/modified Files only
I want this backup Script to be to a Backup File
I want to be able to set the maximum size of that Scripts Backup File [say 500GB]
I want the backup Script to delete older Files once the Backup File is full, thereby making room for newer Files
In essence a WORM Backup File process Can Retrospect do that?

Hi,
I’m testing out 14.5 having been away from Retrospect for a few years. One of the features I’m trying is the Slack integration. I can’t seem to get it to work.
I’ve installed it as described but getting no Slack messaging.
When I go via the terminal I can kick it off using the command sh retroEventHandler “Start ... etc” as described. However I do need to put sh in front to make it work. No sh and no “command found” message in terminal.
Is the need for sh indicative of a setup issue and therefore the Restropect Engine is failing to run it (the command instructions doen’t mention sh) or am I being a muppet?
Many thanks in advance,
Francis
+++ Just realised after posting this that I installed file under /User/username/Lbrary ... not at the system level /Library/... . Muppet. +++++

Hi,
I use Pegasus RAID formatted HFS on a mac and would like to migrate about 3tb of data back onto the drive after formatting it as NTFS for use on an new windows machine. I use Retrospect 13.5 on a mac.
Any tips or suggestions for a fast and reliable method to rehome the data with verify would be much appreciated.
Is verify even reliable when changing formats?
I was thinking about using retrospect to 'copy' the data either via direct connection and smb or formatting an external hard drive as exfat. I'm not sure whether exfat will be a sensible thing or also whether I would need a windows retrospect license for this.
Would appreciate and suggestions or advice on the matter.

At the suggestion of Retrospect support, I'm switching from the very buggy File media sets to Disk media sets. So I tried to create my first one. I want it to be in the same folder where I've always kept my backups, on an external 4TB drive. I can create the media set, but then it wants me to choose a location for adding a new member to the set. I choose the Backups folder on the external drive. It says "Path not found or access denied". What's up with that?

I get 'MD 5' errors in backups, verify and most recently in restore. You can see in this thread that I'm not the only one, seems to occur in various platforms of Retro and with several different types of files. I can pin down the history on this particular occurrence since it was a recent failure and was noted in subsequent backup from a newly started (recycled) backup through the next incremental backup and lastly with a restore of that backup to a working drive.
See the long standing thread comments from others and myself in context here: http://forums.retrospect.com/index.php?/topic/151903-md5-digest-calculated-incorreectly/
I have not yet verified the specific files with errors listed to see if somehow the files are OK. Suppose it's possible that the files are OK and that this 'error' is really a warning that the files were being modified when the backup was running (hence not the most current version). However that is not my understanding of what the MD5 error means.
Which is the last point. If that is indeed the case and the error codes prove inconsequential to the quality of the files recovered then at least, the error codes and their meanings posted elsewhere are BADLY outdated. At least they should be thoroughly updated with current numbering and descriptions...
Post of the entire cycle (Backup, Verify, Restore):Retro_MD5 Errors_Backup, Verify, Restore.rtf
Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Retrospect v9.0.2
Mac OSX 10.10.5 I have a Source Folder with Job Folders in ...
I have a Destination Folder with Job Folders in ...
I want Retrospect to only Copy the most recent, changed, up-to-date versions of Files from the Source Folder to the Destination Folder.
In other words, update the Destination Folder with the Source Folders content.
Some Files in the Destination Folders will be overwritten with never versions.
Some Folders in the Destination Folder will be untouched.
Some Folders In the Destination Folder will be newly created as they are not originally in the Destination Folder.
Nothing will be deleted from the Source Folder.
SO ...
What Script should I use?
Can I manually OK it before it Runs?
Thank you,
JamesR

Hey all. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts about this...
Within the last month or so, Retrospect (v12.5.0 (111)) on my iMac (OS 10.11.3) has suddenly stopped working. It's as if the server side just can't start up. I'll launch the application, I'll get a "Connecting," all the various things will populate in the interface, then wham, it's back to "Connecting" again. Even worse, when I went to write this I checked and now I can't connect at all to the server. To note: the server and the Desktop client tools are running on the same iMac.
I've run the Retrospect Engine Installer.pkg but that hasn't seemed to help.
Activity monitor says that the following are running...
RetrospectInstantScan
RetrospectEngine
Retrospect Client
retroclient
Yet, I can't get the application to connect with the Server.
I've added and removed the server within the application a couple of times. Sometimes as the local iMac's IP, sometime as the local loopback (127.0.0.1). Still nada.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
cheers
cproot

We have had to upgrade the failed drives on our Mac Pro OSX Server from 10.7.5 to 10.10.5
An opportunity to update for this OSX Servers compatibility too .. it is 5 years+ old.
Anyway ...
Retrospect will no longer see our Overland 200-S Tape Deck.
I checked the compatibility with the ATTO SAS R680 for OSX Yosemite and installed the latest drivers.
[see attached images]
The Mac sees the ATTO Card
[see attached images]
Retrospect v 9.0.2 does not.
I checked the compatibility for Retrospect v9.0.2 and it said OSX 10.6.8 an up?
I assume that information was updated with each OSX version?
[see attached images]
I can see the Overland alive an AOK too.
[see attached images]
Any idea's welcome ... I am unsure it is an ATTO or OVERLAND issue.
Thank you,
James R

Hi all,
In my workplace, we're currently using Retrospect 11.5.3 to backup all of our systems. We're considering making the jump to RS 12, but I'm concerned by some of the weird quirks I've encountered in 11.5.3 (such as: scheduled backups not running - engine needs a reset, backup clients not found - sources need to be relocated, reserved backup clients - client system needs a reboot, among some others....) and would like to get an idea of whether I should expect things to be better or worse in version 12. So before we go any further in consideration, I'd like to ask forum users about their experience with Retrospect 12. Any input as to what issues I might expect, or expect to be resolved, what works, what doesn't, and anything relating to 11 vs. 12 overall would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff

We are running Retrospect 11.5.3 on Mac OSX 8.x
Everything has always worked fine and I have automatic backups set for two disks, a data disk and a boot disk. The boot disk ran fine until the end of February, then it stopped working.
Now, it will not back up at all. I have created new scripts, tried every kind of manual backup, created new media sets to start from scratch--nothing works. The data disk still backs up fine, as usual, on a scheduled script. The boot disk backup just stops right after it is started. There are no error messages. The past backup window states that it was "stopped," no further log entrees.
The computer is fine, no problems at all with it. Very clean and fast running.I have excluded Retrospect and its client from Norton Firewall in case there was interference, but to no avail.
1. How do I find out what is wrong?
2. How do I get the disk to back up?
And a third unrelated question, why don't you add a search function to the forum? There may be an answer in here somewhere, but there is no way to find it.
I hope you can help.
Thanks.
- Michael

Recently installed upgrade. Unlimited Version 12 (Multi-Server). Worked fine for a day. After I got three clients up and running on one Server, (two had Console running on them just fine) for no apparent reason the next day two remote consoles couldn't log into the remote server (on local network). One user connects on Wi-Fi, the other on wired LAN.
Both remote consoles, on each of two clients, have the same issues logging in. Neither IP, nor Server name appear to resolve - spinning wheel all the time on each remote client (they worked the previous day). Yet, the local machine's Retrospect console opens just fine, it backs up to the clients just fine (the clients see the server, back up, show the status, etc.).
Tried reinstalling one console on the client, without change. I have not yet tried adding the Engine to another machine to see if I can replicate the issue there, that seems the obvious next choice. Anything else to try?

I can't find anything about this in the guide. How can I see what files were copied on a certain day's backup? And while we're at it, what purpose does the Retrieve button do in the Backups tab of Media Sets? Searching the guide for "retrieve" shows nothing for that button.

I am fairly new to retrospect, and have been tasked to play with v9; I believe we are using v6 in our production environment. As it stands I have several scripts in place in order for us to keep a months worth of backups in place, with each week separate. Part of our backup regime is to take the backup hard drive to our offsite storage once a month. While I haven't tested the scenario yet, I assume that when I put in a new hard drive, I will have to recreate all of my folders so that Retrospect continues to function accordingly.
Does this sound right?
Is there any easier way to go about things?
Thank in advance.

Hello all!
I have Retrospect 10.5 running on Mac OSX Sever and we have just a single LTO4 Tape drive hooked up. We do all manual backups by just choosing folders and backing them up to tape. Everything has been working fine until the 10.5 update and now when I try to do a backup, I always get the "needs media" error anywhere from 20% to 90% of the completed file copied to the tape. I am only trying to put about 400gb to a tape that is supposed to hold 800gb. I have tried doing a smaller backup, changed tapes, checked the hard drives, etc and nothing is working.
Any advice would be very much appreciated. THANKS so much in advance!
Steve

I am working with Mac OS X based computer system. While i am using pen drive for accessing some information, then pen drive formatted accidentally by my fault. I have no idea how to recover data from pen drive. I need back my all files. That was very important files for me. I need helps to recover data from pen drive.
Guys,
Please suggest me any software to restore lost detail from Mac PC connected pen drive.

Has anyone tried repackaging the Mac client for use with automated installation systems (ARD, munki, ...)
I believe the repackaging is necessary to be able to pre-set the first-connect password.
Thanks in advance.

New to Retrospect.
I'm sure this is a simple question, i just haven't been able to find a definitive answer. I'm thinking the answer is, "just the logged-in user." Just wasn't sure how to properly search the documentation for this.
Environment:
Retrospect 8.1 server for Windows Clients, all laptops, Win7 and OS X 10.8.3 or 4
Each laptop has a user profile, which is what is logged in, and an admin profile, which is idle.
Retrospect will use a service account with local admin access to laptops.
This concerns both Win7 and OS X...
When I create a backup script to targeting:
-Win7 - predefined "Profile and settings', or custom My Document + Desktop, will the script only target the currently logged-in user, or will it grab the defined directories for all users?
-OS X10.8.3 or 4: Full system, or custom Documents + Desktop, will the script target the currently logged-in user or will it grab the defined directories for all users?
Thanks

Greetings!
Background:
I'm in the middle of trying to set up a Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape (D2D2T) backup strategy that involves two instances of Retrospect Server running on Windows and Mac using shared network storage and a single tape drive. Both Windows and Mac RS servers need to write to the network share, and the Mac controls the tape drive.
Problem:
I've hit a snag when trying to share the Disk-based media between with both machines.
I can share the disk-based backups and catalogs between the two servers by manually updating the path to the media set every time a backup runs. I haven't found a way to to make the change automatically, mangle paths, or even to have Retrospect use a relative path to identify the media set's members.
Has anybody got any workarounds for this kind of setup?
<p>
Constraints:
Retrospect Server for Windows is required for Exchange Mailbox backup
Retrospect Server for Mac OSX is required for fast Xsan backup and tape loader
Network share as disk-based media set in Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape (D2D2T) workflow
Separate network share for catalogs
Backups must be fully unattended, as humans will not be on-site at 2am
Approaches Already Tried:
Some other odds and ends I've tried along the way
Retrospect 10's WebDAV support: The catalog still contains the platform's native representation of the WebDAV path. For the Mac, this is still a local path in /Volumes.
Tricks with OSX's mount command to fake a local windows path or UNC path: Forward slashes and backslashes are a bit too incompatible to work with.
Switching to a single server: Not possible as a Windows server is needed for backing up Exchange mailboxes. A Mac server is required for Xsan connectivity and Tape loader -- backups are far too slow when run through the Retrospect Client.
Manually editing the uncompressed .rbc file with a hex editor: The .rtS chunk has a 4-byte constant (0x00011001) followed by a 16-byte value specifying how many two-byte characters are in the string (UTF-16?), ending with zero-padded to the next multiple of 4 bytes. Running a homebrew length-altering binary search and replace seems somehow unsafe, despite the entertainment value of doing so
Further thoughts would be appreciated!

I guess Retrospect isn't backing up the Mac 'hidden' ._ files, after each daily backup I have a log with over 3,000 errors, all are the "._filename" files. Otherwise, the 'real' files are backing up normally. Any idea on how to either make Retrospect backup these hidden files, or have Retrospect ignore the hidden files?

Is it possible to recover data from a Retrospect 5 app. installed on a PC running Windows XP, from a catalog file created while the Retrospect was used on a G4 running 9.2?
I copied the Mac catalog file to the PC and it doesn't show in the Retrospect dialog box.
I would have hoped the catalog, as a simple index, would have been recognized by the PC.
Because of a faulty Dat drive using DDS3 tapes (4mm 12-24Gb), I have difficulty finding a refurbished Dat drive working on a Mac platform, while for PC, picking one is a breeze.
Comments anyone.
Of course no need to mention that we do backup to HD now.
Thanks

i'm wondering about grooming under version 10.
as a preface, i will say that i could never really get grooming to work the way i wanted it under versions 8 (where i mostly didn't experiment much due to a variety of other problems and issues) and version 9 (where my experiments met with poor results leaving me thinking that i must be doing something fundamentally "wrong" in terms of how the program was designed to work).
my simplistic starting assumption is that with grooming, retrospect should be able to work somewhat like the way time machine does in that you could allocate some storage to it, let it start backing up and it would save everything (every version, every incremental backup, etc.) until it ran out of space, and then when the allocated space was depleted, it would start deleting the oldest, unused stuff to make way for new stuff. with a modest number of machines (3-4) and what seemed to me to be a modest number of backups (roughly 2x/week for a few months), i would find that my media sets would take a really really long time to groom (like ~3-4 days) under version 9.
so now i've installed version 10 and i'm trying it out. my first attempt is to groom an existing media set with 1TB of storage and a few million files. so far it's been running almost 5hrs. as with previous versions, there are NO meaningful progress indicators of any kind during grooming, which is quite frustrating (edit: see followup note below about progress reporting). but if i had to guess, i would say that version 10 does not look like it is going to provide any kind of huge improvement.
the web page describing mac version 10 says "IMPROVED! Automatic Disk Grooming Tell Retrospect how many backups to keep, and it will automatically remove older backups when it needs more space on disk-based storage. This technology allows Retrospect to perform faster, smaller Smart Incremental backups forever." this sounds like exactly what i'm looking for.
questions:
is there something i need to do in order to see this "improved" behavior and in particular to see faster grooming? for example, do i need to create new media sets?
is there some kind of first-time cost when v10 reads v9 catalogs before this wonderful new feature kicks-in?
any other advice on how to get "smart incremental backups forever" w/o having to recycle backup sets and hopefully without needing multi-day groom operations?